Debt collectors are known for outrageous conduct. In a case that made headlines across the globe, a German debt collector seized a family’s pug and tried to sell it on eBay to satisfy a debt. While not all collection agencies go this far, any behavior designed to threaten or scare you into paying a debt is against the law.
The FDCPA and Your Rights
Before 1977, collection agencies were bullying people into bankruptcy. Now the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, protects you from harassment by enabling you to take legal action against debt collectors that use strategies like the following:
- Harassing you over a debt that isn’t yours
- Calling your relatives and friends about the debt
- Using an autodialer to call you
- Failing to send a debt validation letter within five days of first contacting you
- Calling you at work when they know that your boss doesn’t allow such calls
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Company Profile: Total Card, Inc.
If Total Card, Inc. is calling you, here is some more information about the company’s background.
Total Card, Inc., which also does business as Jump Card VISA, is a debt collection agency located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with call centers in Luverne, Minnesota, and Longview, Texas. It was founded in 2000, has 275 employees, and is managed by its President, Greg L. Ticknor.
It has a B rating with the Better Business Bureau due to 74 complaints filed against the company. A close review of legal records at the PACER confirms that individuals who believed they were being harassed by Total Card, Inc. acted on their right to sue.
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Alleged Violations against Total Card, Inc.
According to PACER, on or around September 17, 2014, Total Card, Inc. sent a collection letter to a Pennsylvania consumer. He alleged that a barcode was visible through the envelope’s window and, when scanned with a reader, produced a number ending in 3671.
The file number ending in 3671 constituted personal identifying information.
Feeling harassed by Total Card, Inc., the consumer filed an FDCPA lawsuit against the agency for allegedly:
- Making his personal identifying information visible
- Using unfair and unconscionable means to collect a debt
The matter was then resolved at a later date
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Work with an FDCPA Attorney
The phone numbers for Total Card, Inc. are:
Any time one of them appears on your caller ID, it is confirmation that you are being called by Total Card, Inc. If they send you collection letters that make your personal identifying information visible to other parties, protect your rights by hiring an FDCPA attorney and filing a claim against Total Card, Inc.
You could be awarded $1,000 per FDCPA violation, so when you know a collection agency has mistreated you, you have good reason to take a stand.
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Additional Resources
Case taken from PACER (pacer.gov). File number is Case 2:15-cv-01207-DSC from the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
*Disclaimer: The content of this article serves only to provide information and should not be constructed as legal advice. If you file a claim against Total Card, Inc., or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.